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Poetry in Essence Tai Chi - No Wasted Movements

                                                                September 8, 2006

         I would like to write a few words about Owen Liao’s Tai Chi course, which I have just started. I first heard about Owen from a friend of mine who attends the American Zen College , of which I am a member, as well. Owen had done great work with him on weight reduction, and so I decided to ‘try him out’ for a slight hypothyroid condition, as well. Owen has been treating me with his Chi Gong energy healing and acupuncture for about 7 weeks now, and I think he has helped me a great deal. Incidentally, he has helped me to bring a greater awareness of physical chi into my Zen practice. Therefore, I was interested in learning from him his Essence Tai Chi program.

         In my first session, Owen demonstrated to me that I had much to learn in integrating my energy and body movements into the simple act of walking. He showed me how much stronger I could be physically by consciously bringing chi through my body with correct posture and movement. This, of course, has nothing to do with tensing the muscles. We went over the preliminary Tai Chi exercises: clapping hands; a torso-hanging, inverted Australian crawl; and the basic Tai Chi walk. In every case, with Owen’s direction, it was easy for me to feel tangible connection to Chi (universal energy) as he helped me bring to life the exercises outlined in his Essence Tai Chi booklet. Letting Chi flow through my body also brought enhanced mental acuity, as well as physical energy. This was helpful to me as we began the first part of the Tai Chi form itself. Learning Tai chi requires assembling many elements to create the total ‘picture’. Attention must be paid to posture, shifts of physical balance, spatial orientation, sequence, timing and the flow of movement. Informing everything is increasing one’s sensitivity to and ability to channel Chi. Truly, the end result is poetry in action. This was increasingly evident to me as I viewed over and over again the DVD which Owen has produced of his performance of this Tai Chi form. I actually do not get tired of seeing it, as its internal poetry has many subtleties. Owen helps students to learn Tai Chi with patience, attention to detail, and good humor. As a healer and as a teacher, his deep connection to Chi as a foundation of life is greatly inspiring.

         Through careful retracing of the numbered sequences outlined and demonstrated by Master Liao in his Essence Tai Chi form, and by learning to eliminate unneeded muscular tension in the flow of movement, the faithful student will be able to discover for him or herself the ever-available, ever-renewable resource of living Chi.

                                                                September 25, 2006

         I would like to add a few more words as I near the end of my initial training in this form. I have found it very interesting how ‘cleaning up’ stances and movements results in clarifying the outer elegance of the form, as well as in helping to reveal its inner dynamic.  No wasted movements, flowing with a steady and serene cadence, encompassing multiple levels of meaning (e.g., martial arts forms, and inner energy play), symmetry in the ebb and flow as forms repeat in mirroring directions, and, above all, a clear demonstration of working with what is ordinarily invisible- all of these are aspects of the poetry of Essence Tai Chi. The true essence of Tai Chi is in the individual’s opening to chi itself.

  Murray Kramer

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